- October 29, 2024
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Palm Coast is making progress over six City Council “focus areas” by attracting development to Town Center and adding streetlights and fiber infrastructure, among other improvements. But COVID-19 has prompted discussions about what proposals warrant continued support and which should be delayed or halted if pandemic-related expenses bleed the city’s revenues.
City Councilman Jack Howell, in a letter published in the May 7 edition of the Palm Coast Observer, had said he wanted the UNF MedNex project — a proposal to build a UNF health care education training facility in Palm Coast — placed on the back burner, along with Palm Coast’s pledged $1.5 million contribution to it.
He added that he wanted to see city department heads justify new spending to the council, and said he would oppose any tax rate increases.
At a City Council workshop May 12, Councilman Eddie Branquinho challenged him.
“Let me start by saying that if it was me, I personally would first bring it up to my colleagues in a workshop or in a business meeting, then put it out to the media so we wouldn’t look nor seem to be too politically motivated — unless, Jack, you still think you’re surrounded by the ‘four idiots,’” Branquinho said in a reference to May 2019 incident reported on FlaglerLive.com in which Howell had referred to his council colleagues as “four idiots” before later apologizing.
“Regarding the MedNex, again I completely disagree with you,” Branquinho said. “Me and you have one thing in common: We both believe that higher education is a must for our kids. ... Why would you put on the back burner the best chance of bringing into Palm Coast one of the best universities in the country, University of North Florida, is beyond comprehension.”
If the state funds its portion of the MedNex project this year, Branquinho said, “I would have to be a real idiot to take away the possibility of our young to have a beautiful education, especially in a much-needed medical field, which pay very good salaries.”
As to city directors and their budgetary requests, he said, “When you challenge the departments’ directors to justify the council need/urgency of any purchases, my question is — don’t they always do that?”
Howell responded briefly, saying his goal in writing the letter was “just to remind people that we’re in tough times and we’ve never had anything like this.” He added, “Thank you, Eddie, for your comments; I appreciate your candor.”
Other potential city projects may also be delayed or altered due to COVID-19, among them the city’s long-planned upgrade to its public works facility.
The city might see a 25% revenue reduction for this fiscal year compared to last fiscal year, Finance Director Helena Alves told council members in a presentation at the workshop.
At this point, the city has money allocated money for an upgraded Public Works facility, City Manager Matt Morton said. But the council, Morton said, will be able to evaluate it again before any construction begins.
Immediate needs like water intrusion have been addressed with interim measures, Stormwater and Engineering Director Carl Cote said.
As part of the project timeline, Cote said, there’s “a pause button, where we’re going to evaluate the revenues, we’re going to evaluate the construction market, we’re going to evaluate the scope of the Phase 1 items,” before moving on to construction.
“So come June, if we say, ‘Hey, revenues are way, way down, the funds aren’t going to be there to move forward with Phase 1,’ or, ‘We can’t reduce the scope in Phase 1 to move forward today, so let’s hit pause for a year’ ... both of those contracts have that built in,” Cote said.
Branquinho supported moving forward with the project, as did Mayor Milissa Holland.
“This is a long time coming,” Holland said. “I’m looking forward to a well-designed, efficient facility.”
